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Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke caught investors by surprise late Wednesday by making it clear that there would be no tapering of the central bank’s bond-buying program anytime soon.

This past month, equities swung wildly and interest rates spiked as investors widely took Fed comments to suggest that a tapering of its program would occur sooner than expected.

In Thursday afternoon trading, so-called “risk-on” exchange-traded funds were gaining the most. (Broadly speaking, “risk-on” assets are those that benefit from a perceived lack of financial risk while “risk-off” assets, like U.S. treasuries and the dollar, benefit when perceived danger is high.)

In the metals complex, the long-suffering miners are faring best. The Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL) is up 5.9% to $12.16 and the Market Vector Gold Miners ETF (GDX) is 5.4% higher to $24.45. ETFs that track the metals themselves were advancing smartly too with the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) ahead 4.3% to $19.27 and the iShares Gold Trust (GLD) 2.4% higher to $123.86.

Among emerging markets funds, the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM) is up 3.6% to $38.89 while the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets (VWO) is 3.3% higher to $39.15.

Lastly, despite the 30-year fixed mortgage rate reaching a two-year high, homebuilders are sharply higher. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) is up 4.5% to $23.42 and the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) is 3.2% higher to $31.03.

The WSJ’s Jason Zweig and Tom McGinty have a close look at the phenomenon known as “marking the close” or “portfolio pumping.” Read the whole thing – Zweig and McGinty deliver a a fascinating look into a practice that’s widely known to exist but is tough to quantify and even harder to prove.

Those terms refer to those cases when a portfolio manager triggers a surge in a stock they already own at the end of a quarter by buying up shares, with the aim of juicing results. If you guessed that the artificial burst of price-enhancing demand is temporary, it appears you’re correct.

A Wall Street Journal analysis of daily trading in roughly 10,000 stocks since 2004 found that on the final trading day of each quarter, there was a sharp increase in the number of stocks that beat the market by at least five percentage points, then trailed it by three points or more the next trading day.

The Journal’s analysis compared the performance of those 10,000 stocks to the one-day return of the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index. On days that didn’t end the quarter, an average of 217 stocks beat that index by at least 5 percentage points then trailed it by at least three the next day. But on the final trading days of quarters, an average of 280 stocks did.

Invesco (IVZ) announced today that it is taking a 49% stake in India’s Religare Asset Management, as it seeks to grow its international exposure.

The U.S. money manager, which has about $650 billion in assets, said its stake in the division of Religare Enterprises Limited would allow it to better serve both retail and institutional customers, “and further position both firms for long-term success.”

Invesco already has a small footprint in the subcontinent through its affiliate WL Ross & Co., and it also operates an enterprise center in Hyderabad. Dehli-based Religare had about $2.6 billion assets under management at the end of last month, less than 2% of the market share in India’s mutual-fund industry, but it still counts itself among the top fifteen asset management companies in the country.

Although the two did not disclose the terms of the deal, The Wall Street Journalreports through sources close to the situation that Invesco is paying about $90 million for the stake.

The news is good for India, which is seeking foreign investment. Yet some have been spooked as the country’s white-hot growth has slowed to 6% annually, and the IMF today warned that if wealthier nations slow, emerging markets could take a further hit.

There are exceptions: 75% of international smallcap fund managers are beating the benchmark.

While, we’re at it, here’s another interesting tidbit: S&P says that over the last five years, nearly a quarter of domestic equity funds, more than a fifth of international equity funds and 15% of fixed income funds merged or liquidated.

Charles Schwab (SCHW) president and chief executive Walt Bettinger touted his company’s commitment to low-cost investing the morning after the company cut ETF fees across its line of 15 products, and pledged that the company is “not going to stop here.” The cuts included lowering two broad equity ETFs to an industry-low cost of four basis points, or 0.04%.

The cuts, which were effective as of Thursday, shrink the cost of Schwab’s products to the lowest in their Lipper categories, company executives said on a Friday morning conference call.

Asked whether the comments meant more price cuts could be coming in the future, Bettinger left the door open. “Sometimes it may take the form of fee cuts, sometimes additional services,” he said. “We’ll respond in whatever way is appropriate in the competitive environment.”

Bettinger and Maria Chandoha, president of Charles Schwab Investment Management, said the reductions weren’t temporary and aren’t a response to comments by competitors. The firm’s trustees approved the moves last summer, the executives said. The cuts come nearly two weeks after BlackRock (BLK) chief executive Larry Finkpledged to reduce expenses on some of the firm’s iShares ETFs.

Until this week, the lowest-cost product in the ETF industry had been the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), at five basis points a year, or 0.05%. The low-cost crown now goes to the Schwab U.S. Broad Market ETF (SCHB) and the Schwab U.S. Large-Cap ETF (SCHX). Each were cut to 0.04% from 0.06%.

How can Schwab make any money on ETFs when its most popular fund charges 0.04% a year? “It’s like asking Apple [AAPL] if they make money on the glass screen on the iPhone,” Bettinger said on the call. “We don’t evaluate individual products in isolation. No single product is looked at in a vaccuum.”

Here’s the full list of changes. Left column are the old fees, right column the new ones, effective Sept. 20:

About Focus on Funds

As exchange-traded funds and other investing vehicles have ballooned in number, the task of figuring out what works well and what doesn’t has only gotten harder. Barrons.com’s Focus on Funds looks under the hood of ETFs, mutual funds and hedge funds for overlooked values, actionable ideas and the latest pitfalls for fund investors.

Chris Dieterich has covered the U.S. stock market for The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. He is a graduate of Regis University and the Missouri School of Journalism.